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The Liberal government introduced Bill C-69 yesterday that made sweeping changes to Canada’s water, environmental and energy legislation. The long-awaited bill includes amendments on the Navigation Protection Act (NPA), now named the Canadian Navigable Waters Act (CNWA), which was sandwiched in the 412 page bill.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and Transport Canada stated that all navigable waters were protected. But the amendments fall short of what Indigenous nations, environmental groups, residents and other organizations called for during the Standing Committee review which included restoring protections on all lakes and rivers and obtaining free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous nations.

A closer look at the bill shows pipelines and power lines are still exempt from the act and raises questions about whether the act protects all waterways from dam projects.

The Council of Canadians Mid-Island chapter joined with allies at Trudeau's recent town hall meeting in Nanaimo 'to protest the destructive environmental policies of the Trudeau Liberal government' notably the Kinder Morgan pipeline!

Here's a snapshot of recent and upcoming chapter actions across the country!

During the October 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party pledged, "We will make environmental assessments credible again." Bill C-69, tabled by environment minister Catherine McKenna yesterday, fails to keep that promise. The government's 451-page omnibus bill misses the mark of undoing the damage done by the Harper government's C-38 and C-45 omnibus bills.

Environment minister Catherine McKenna speaks to reporters this morning about the provisions in the new Act.

This morning, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna tabled the much anticipated Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

It's a long title and at 351 pages of text and 26 pages of 'explanatory notes', a lengthy piece of legislation. But it's a straightforward question to ask if the bill would restore lost protections, ensure modern safeguards and protect lakes and rivers from major resource projects such as tar sands pipelines.

In a media conference this morning, McKenna, in response to a question from a reporter, stated that the Act would protect all lakes and rivers.

The Saint John chapter is one of many Council of Canadians chapters that collected jars of water from unprotected lakes and rivers to send to their MP over the past two years in an effort to encourage the Liberal government to take immediate action to restore and enhance the protection of waterways.

We are expecting to hear more this morning about how the Liberals will fulfill their long-delayed October 2015 election promise to "restore lost protections" in the Navigable Waters Protection Act and "incorporate more modern safeguards" to protect lakes and rivers across the country.

The Liberals are now set to introduce "An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts”.